The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
The Impossible Fortune is the fifth book in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, published on Thursday 25th September. I absolutely love these books and was happy my parents had given me a book token for my birthday a few days before specifically to buy it. Now I don’t know if I have partly forgotten how brilliant the previous books were or whether this is the best one yet. I suspect it’s the best one yet!
While the other books all started immediately after each other and the entire series only covered a period of a few months, The Impossible Fortune takes place over a year after the events of The Last Devil to Die. In that time, there have been no murders and no adventures, while Elizabeth grieves the loss of her beloved husband, Stephen. So much time has elapsed that Joyce’s daughter, Joanna, has met a new man.
The action starts on Joanna’s wedding day. Elizabeth is approached at the wedding by the best man, who is in fear for his life. He has heard that Elizabeth could be the person to help him. Elizabeth feels the old excitement returning. It’s time for the Thursday Murder Club to get back to doing what they do best…
But Ron’s mind isn’t completely on the job, because there is something happening in his family and son Jason isn’t telling him the full story. He might not be able to do his own shoes up any more, but Ron can still fight for his family.
The Impossible Fortune has all the usual gentle humour and lovable characters. There’s mentions of John Lewis, vegan coffee shops and all the quirky British details which are part of what makes this series so special.
This time round, police officers Chris and Donna are a lot less involved. But we really see Joanna’s character grow. In the past, she’s been quite abrasive towards Joyce (who will always be the best character in my opinion), but in The Impossible Fortune we see her start to soften. And we see that she is a lot more like Joyce than she would like to think. Fairhaven’s most notorious drug dealer, Connie Johnson, is back. There’s also a bigger role for Ron’s adorable grandson, Kendrick.
The Impossible Fortune is another absolute triumph from Richard Osman. If you love the Thursday Murder Club series, you will love this. And if you’ve never read one of the books, why not start from the beginning and give the series a try.
Read my other reviews here – The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed and The Last Devil to Die.
I love how you unpacked the twists and character motivations. You’ve made this book sound very tempting!
Thanks very much. It is such a good read! In fact, the whole series is brilliant.
This series sounds so good and quirky. Hopefully I’ll get to it someday! Happy Reading!
The series is brilliant! I’m sure you would enjoy it.
I’m currently reading a book but I have this on Audible ready to go as soon as I’m finished. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve watched the long awaited movie. But, even though I enjoyed the first book I thought the movie brought it to life a little more.
I’m sure you will love this one! I really enjoyed the film, although there were one or two things that bothered me about it. I do hope they make more films.